Author Toyi Rodriguez shares about her book "Global Citizen" with a crowd at the Carmel Clay Public Library — *Author Toyi Rodriguez shares about her book "Global Citizen" with a crowd at the* *Carmel Clay Public Library*.

The call came in the evening. Could I be available the following night to photograph a book release celebration?

No months of planning. No advance scouting. Just a conversation, a quick yes, and a camera bag packed for whatever the next evening had in store.

That's one of the things I genuinely love about event photography. Sometimes the jobs that come together at the last minute turn into the ones you remember most.

Toyi Rodriguez stands behind a podium at the Carmel Clay Public LIbrary and presents her book, “Global Citizen.”

Meet Toyi Rodriguez

Toyi Rodriguez is a Carmel-based author, entrepreneur, and cross-cultural consultant who has spent decades doing something most of us only dream about: living fully across borders. She has moved more than 15 times across Mexico, the United States, and Belgium. She has helped families from over 28 nationalities find their footing in new communities. She has traveled to 47 countries and connected with people from over 100 nations.

That evening, she stood in front of a warm, engaged room at the Carmel Clay Public Library and talked about the invisible cultural codes that shape how we lead, communicate, build trust, and form relationships — across all the lines that so often divide us. She was thoughtful, genuine, and completely at home in the conversation. The people in that room were clearly there because they believed in her.

The book

The event celebrated the release of Global Citizen: A Cultural and Transformative Journey to Thrive Abroad — a finalist for the 2025 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in Multicultural Adult Nonfiction. The book blends memoir and practical guidance, drawing from Toyi's two decades of cross-cultural living to help expats, global professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone navigating life somewhere new feel less like an outsider and more like they belong.

It's the kind of book that finds the right reader at exactly the right moment.

*Copies of the book Global Citizen sit on a table next to business cards and a vase of yellow flowers.*

The celebration continued

After the public event wrapped, the evening wasn't quite over. I had the privilege of following Toyi and a smaller circle of her closest friends back to her home — where the real celebrating happened. Glasses raised. Laughter filling the room. People who had shown up that night not just as an audience, but as community. The kind of friends who have been cheering you on long before the book existed, and who were absolutely going to be there for this moment.

Those are the photos that don't make it into press releases. But they're often the ones that matter most.

*Author Toyi Rodriguez celebrates the release of her book, Global Citizen, with friends and family in her home.*

Why milestone moments deserve a photographer

Publishing a book is one of the most significant things a person can do. It represents years of lived experience, the discipline to write it all down, and the courage to share it with the world. And like most milestones — the evening itself passes in a flash.

The conversations at the signing table. The toast among close friends. The expression on someone's face when they hold a finished copy for the first time. Those moments don't preserve themselves.

That's what I'm there for.

If you have an event worth remembering.

Whether it's a book launch, a corporate milestone, a panel, a product release, or a celebration of any kind — don't leave the photography as an afterthought. Even a last-minute call can produce images you'll use and treasure for years.

I serve the Indianapolis, Carmel, and Zionsville areas and I'm always glad to talk through what you're planning.

Reach out at ellegoodphotography.com/contact — I'd love to be part of it.